The '''RM 200''' is a MIPS based workstation series originally developed by Pyramid which got bought out by [[wikipedia:Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme|Siemens-Nixdorf]]. The RM 200 was being shipped with [[wikipedia:SINIX|SINIX]] or [[wikipedia:BS2000|BS2000/MIPS]] as the OS in [[Endianess|big endian]] mode and for [[wikipedia:Microsoft_Windows_NT|Windows NT]] in [[Endianess|little endian]] mode.

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The '''RM 200''' is a MIPS based workstation series originally developed by [[wikipedia:Pyramid Technology|Pyramid]] which got bought out by [[wikipedia:Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme|Siemens-Nixdorf]]. The RM 200 was being shipped with [[wikipedia:SINIX|SINIX]] or [[wikipedia:BS2000|BS2000/MIPS]] as the OS in [[Endianess|big endian]] mode and for [[wikipedia:Microsoft_Windows_NT|Windows NT]] in [[Endianess|little endian]] mode.

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== Hardware Versions ==

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== Firmware ==

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There are at least 5 different versions of the RM 200 as indicated by a letter trailing the version number. The '''C''' version can be distinguished from older versions by having both [[wikipedia:Extended_Industry_Standard_Architecture|EISA]] and [[wikipedia:PCI|PCI]] slots on a riser board that sits in the middle of the main board. The '''C''' version is the only version supported by Linux/MIPS.

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With a special floppy disk containing firmware it is possibly to reconfigure RM 200 systems from [[Endianess|little]]- to [[Endianess|big endian]] and vice versa. Unfortunately the firmware is copyrighted and Linux/MIPS project neither has a copy of the big endian firmware disk nor the permission to distribute the firmware or any other source.

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=== Little-endian mode ===

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The RM 200 systems use [[ARC|ARC firmware]] in the little-endian mode.

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== Firmware ==

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=== Big-endian mode ===

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The RM 200 systems use [[ARC|ARC firmware]]. With a special floppy disk containing firmware it is possibly to reconfigure RM 200 systems from little to big endian and vice versa. Unfortunately the firmware is copyrighted and Linux/MIPS project neither has a copy of the big endian firmware disk nor the permission to distribute the firmware or any other source.

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The RM 200 systems use [[SNI Monitor]] in the big-endian mode.

== Linux Support ==

== Linux Support ==

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Due to lack of a system in a big endian system for development only the little endian configuration is supported under Linux. No Linux distribution supports the RM 200 out of the box so any installation will require some Linux skills and an additional Linux system to boot the RM 200 from via network. Linux support for the RM200 is available since kernel version 2.1 (requires out of tree patches). Due to a hardware problem for which for a long time no workaround was known Linux 2.2 and 2.3 were unsupported on RM 200; late 2.5 versions fixes these issues. Latest successfully tested version is 2.6.10-rc3 and is considered stable.

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No Linux distribution supports the RM 200 out of the box so any installation will require some Linux skills and an additional Linux system to boot the RM 200 from via network. Linux support for the RM200 is available since kernel version 2.1 (requires out of tree patches). Due to a hardware problem for which for a long time no workaround was known Linux 2.2 and 2.3 were unsupported on RM 200; late 2.5 versions fixes these issues. Latest successfully tested version is 2.6.10-rc3 and is considered stable.

Current status about the big endian support could be found here [[User:Tsbogend]]

== System architecture ==

== System architecture ==

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The RM&nbsp;200&nbsp;C is based on a SNI proprietary [[Wikipedia:ASIC|ASIC]] named '''ASIC PCI''' and two chips from [[Wikipedia:Intel|Intel]]'s 82430 chipset, the EISA System Controller 82374EB and PCI/EISA Bridge 82375EB. The onboard [[Wikipedia:Video_Graphics_Array|VGA]] graphics controller is a [[Wikipedia:Cirrus_Logic|Cirrus Logic]] GD&nbsp;5434. RM200 systems have an [[Wikipedia:NCR_Corporation|NCR]] 53c810 [[Wikipedia:SCSI|SCSI]] hostadapter onboard which connects to the internal disk drive, SCSI tape and SCSI CDROM.

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There are at least 5 different versions of the RM 200 as indicated by a letter trailing the version number. The '''C''' version can be distinguished from older versions by having both [[wikipedia:Extended_Industry_Standard_Architecture|EISA]] and [[wikipedia:PCI|PCI]] slots on a riser board that sits in the middle of the main board.

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=== RM-200 ===

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RM-200 is based on the A20R Pyramid architecture and very similar to the early [[RM 400|RM-400]] (without C or E suffix).

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=== RM-200C ===

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[[Image:Rm200c internals.jpg|thumb|200px|right|RM-200C internals]]The RM&nbsp;200&nbsp;C20 (M8701) is based on a [[R4700]] 133MHz, SNI proprietary [[Wikipedia:ASIC|ASIC]] named ''ASIC PCI 1.1'' and two chips from [[Wikipedia:Intel|Intel]]'s 82430 chipset, the EISA System Controller 82374EB and PCI/EISA Bridge 82375EB. The [[APIC]] of the chipset fortunately isn't wired up. The onboard [[Wikipedia:Video_Graphics_Array|VGA]] graphics controller is a [[Wikipedia:Cirrus_Logic|Cirrus Logic]] GD&nbsp;5434 with standart VGA connector. RM200 systems have an AMD PCnet 79c970 Ethernet controller and [[Wikipedia:NCR_Corporation|NCR]] 53c810 [[Wikipedia:SCSI|SCSI]] hostadapter onboard which connects to the internal disk drive, SCSI tape and SCSI CDROM. RM&nbsp;200&nbsp;C systems use old 168-pin 5-volt FPM or EDO buffered [[Wikipedia:DIMM|DIMM]]s w/o [[Wikipedia:Serial Presence Detect|SPD]]; 72bit(8*9) ECC/true parity. This kind of DIMMs may be found in the old [[Wikipedia:Power_Macintosh|Power Mac]]s (7100..9600) and some old PC brandname servers issued circa 1997.

Firmware

With a special floppy disk containing firmware it is possibly to reconfigure RM 200 systems from little- to big endian and vice versa. Unfortunately the firmware is copyrighted and Linux/MIPS project neither has a copy of the big endian firmware disk nor the permission to distribute the firmware or any other source.

Little-endian mode

Big-endian mode

Linux Support

No Linux distribution supports the RM 200 out of the box so any installation will require some Linux skills and an additional Linux system to boot the RM 200 from via network. Linux support for the RM200 is available since kernel version 2.1 (requires out of tree patches). Due to a hardware problem for which for a long time no workaround was known Linux 2.2 and 2.3 were unsupported on RM 200; late 2.5 versions fixes these issues. Latest successfully tested version is 2.6.10-rc3 and is considered stable.

Current status about the big endian support could be found here User:Tsbogend

System architecture

There are at least 5 different versions of the RM 200 as indicated by a letter trailing the version number. The C version can be distinguished from older versions by having both EISA and PCI slots on a riser board that sits in the middle of the main board.

RM-200

RM-200 is based on the A20R Pyramid architecture and very similar to the early RM-400 (without C or E suffix).

RM-200C

RM-200C internals

The RM 200 C20 (M8701) is based on a R4700 133MHz, SNI proprietary ASIC named ASIC PCI 1.1 and two chips from Intel's 82430 chipset, the EISA System Controller 82374EB and PCI/EISA Bridge 82375EB. The APIC of the chipset fortunately isn't wired up. The onboard VGA graphics controller is a Cirrus Logic GD 5434 with standart VGA connector. RM200 systems have an AMD PCnet 79c970 Ethernet controller and NCR 53c810 SCSI hostadapter onboard which connects to the internal disk drive, SCSI tape and SCSI CDROM. RM 200 C systems use old 168-pin 5-volt FPM or EDO buffered DIMMs w/o SPD; 72bit(8*9) ECC/true parity. This kind of DIMMs may be found in the old Power Macs (7100..9600) and some old PC brandname servers issued circa 1997.